JAZZ REVIEW : Poncho Sanchez Adds Spice to Latin Menu : His band offered a program of Latin numbers, standards and originals that pulled diners from the table and onto the dance floor.

It’s difficult not to talk about Latin jazz in terms of food. Reviews are full of “hot” salsas, rhythmic “stews” and “spicy” melodies. Finding a less-cliched way to discuss the percussive genre isn’t always easy.

Conga man Poncho Sanchez’s appearance Sunday at Tlaquepaque Restaurant in Placentia could easily be discussed in such culinary terms. While steaming platters of food were delivered to the audience, Sanchez’s eight-piece ensemble cooked away on the small bandstand, offering a program of classic Latin numbers, jazz standards and originals that pulled more than a few diners away from their plates and onto the small dance floor.

Sanchez, whose latest album, “Chile con Soul” seems to encourage such metaphors, played the part of master chef, blending the right ingredients, adjusting temperatures that ranged from a gentle simmer to a rapid boil.

The band opened with a sizzling “El Conguero”--also Sanchez’s nickname--a showcase for its leader’s rippling, well-paced percussion that featured tight, in-your-face lines from the horn section and Ramon Banda’s cymbal highlights that served to fire Sanchez’s congas.

A more relaxed salsa tune, “El Sabricon,” signaled by new keyboardist David Torres’ theme statement, featured engaging harmonies from the horn section and a seamless flute solo from wind instrumentalist Gene Burkert.

But, strangely, it wasn’t until the first recognizable jazz piece, “On Green Dolphin Street” (done in medley form with “Mambo Inn”) that dancers began to take to the floor. Sal Cracchiolo’s swarming trumpet solo on the standard little resembled Miles Davis’ approach to the tune, turning away from Davis’ cool with heated, punchy lines and searing high end that more recalled Maynard Ferguson. Sanchez’s muscular conga work, full of dramatic pauses and varied dynamics, was nicely counterpointed by Banda’s timbales.

The band’s clean, tight lines were balanced with loose, playful vocal antics, often in the form of call-and-response.

Sanchez’s English lyric on “To Be With You” was sung without distinction by the percussionist, whose voice sounded a bit pinched, especially in the upper range. More expressive was Art Velasco’s almost somber trombone improvisation on the ballad, a warm, attractive construction of short, smooth lines and gliding tones.

“Hey Bud,” a new number by Sanchez, was filled with street jive called out by the band and choppy, sometimes-squirming lines from the horn section.

Burkert, this time on tenor saxophone, took a rough-edged, street-smart solo that added to the tune’s on-the-corner feel.

By the last few numbers, the dance floor was packed, making Poncho and company nearly invisible behind the twisting, turning aficionados. And it somehow seemed appropriate that, after the first set, the band left the stand and disappeared into the kitchen. What better place to contemplate the cooking they’d just done?